[Freeswitch-users] Olly olly oxen FreeSWITCH!

[John Millican]

Moved to bottom post, cause I am just that way <g>

On 12/10/2013 06:18 PM, Sean P Devoy wrote:
>
> I am going to layout MY OPIONS on this subject and just HOPE I do not
> offend anyone.  Some of this may be incorrect based on my limited
> understanding of FS.  I hope nobody takes offense, I truly LOVE THIS
> PRODUCT.
>
>  
>
> First, about me and how I came to these opinions.  I am a Managing
> Partner in an internet business services firm.  Our name basically
> says what we do: Business Focused Internet Systems, LLC.  We have
> several major areas we focus on.  They are Campus Private Debit Card
> systems, Standard Services that fall under the umbrella of
> "eCommerce," and Event Signup Internet Service (Primarily used by Swim
> Schools to sell their Classes).  The firm's name and business model
> has changed several times as we grew, but we have essentially been
> together since 1996.
>
>  
>
> We always look at what "Businesses" want their ideal computer based
> products to be: SIMPLE, FAST, RELIABLE and CHEAP.  You get 10 out of
> 10 for CHEAP.  You get 9 out of 10 for FAST, and that is only based on
> my personal experience with a small single processor server in my
> early testing days.  Everything I have read from people whose opinions
> I trust says that should be 10 out of 10.  Simple and Reliable are two
> areas you do not score so high in, but with a little focus on the
> right things there could be huge improvements.
>
>  
>
> I started looking into VOIP as a way to appear more professional from
> a group of home office folks.  I think we started with PHONE.COM and a
> "Virtual Office" setup.  It seemed cheap until we added all the actual
> pieces we needed and saw it was a couple of hundred a month.  So I
> started researching the DIY approach.  I found the Asterisk "Play Me" CD.
>
>  
>
> I am referring to the distro from asterisk where you boot this CD in a
> spare (usually old) PC, answer a few questions and in MINUTES, poof
> you have your own server.  That demo then explains how to load Voip
> software on your PC or configure your local VOIP phone. In less than
> an hour, using hardware I had on hand, I had a working INTERNAL ONLY
> phone switch.  In the grand scheme of things, not all that useful, but
> it makes a serious WOW demonstration.  Yes it ignores the complexities
> of VOIP Providers, Gateways, DIDs, Termination and above all NAT, but
> it shows a working demo to someone with NO experience in an hour.  I
> will revisit this when I talk about FS "SIMPLE" needs below.
>
>  
>
> With regard to reliable, my experience has been 3 out of 10.  We were
> completely unprepared for all the nagging issues of phones behind NAT
> firewall/routers.  I know LOTS of people will say "That is not a FS
> problem though."  I say if you are trying to land business customers
> and it makes FS NOT work for them, it is YOUR problem.  The other
> reason for my (nasty) low rating was my last update on the STABLE
> branch left me with a non-functioning FS server for 3 clients after
> hours on Friday.  That simply CANNOT happen.
>
>  
>
> So, now that I have made lots of people mad because of my own
> shortcomings in SIP, NAT and FS, here is what I need to really market
> this as a Business End User Maintained Solution:
>
> 1.   A SIMPLE "Play Me" CD that installs fixed version of UNIX and FS
> with limited functions THAT WORK out of the box on a LOCAL LAN.
> (This is really just a user interactive Commercial to lead them to you).
>
> 2.   A really kick butt "Let's Build *MY* FreeSwitch" CD, possibly in
> different "flavors" for the UNIX build of your choice.
>
> a.   This Could/Should include prompting for:
>
>                                          i.    What demo Gateway (VOIP
> Provider) from our list?
> (With Click here to sign-up and deposit $5)
>
>                                         ii.    What Model Phones will
> be demoed?
> (Dare I ask for provisioning, or at least a printable config guide for
> MY phones?)
>
>                                       iii.    Extension #s desired
>
>                                       iv.    Maybe a checkbox list of
> desired features -- INCLUDING Multitenant config.
>
>                                        v.    Anything else we need to
> make this a DROP IN, fully functional working Phone Switch
>
> 3.   A similarly simple means to Add or Delete Features or at least
> DIDs, Gateways and Extensions would be a knock out.
>
> 4.   An upgrade path that really works.  Even when I run it
> successfully, at a minimum I have to go back in and reset the
> Multitenant settings.
>
>  
>
> I am admittedly from a Windows background, but I don't understand why
> I can't just "download the binaries" like I can for say MySQL? 
> Granted for different hardware cards more is needed.  But for the
> basic IP BASED everything "Vanilla" build, we should be able to
> provide those.
>
>  
>
> So, there you have it!  Long Winded, Opinionated and Inaccurate -- it
> is just one of the many services I provide.  BUT ...
>
> "If you build it, they will come."
>
>  
>
> Of course Option 2 would be "Fill out this Questionnaire", pay the
> minimal fee ($50? $100? $250?) and we will send you an install CD/DVD
> specific to your design including a working Gateway with $5 of call
> credits.  That adds the touch of Professional Oversight of the build,
> but lacks serious pizzazz for the "Show me NOW" internet user.
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Sean
>
>  
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: freeswitch-users-bounces at lists.freeswitch.org
> [mailto:freeswitch-users-bounces at lists.freeswitch.org] On Behalf Of
> Brian West
> Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 2:11 PM
> To: FreeSWITCH Users Help
> Subject: [Freeswitch-users] Olly olly oxen FreeSWITCH!
>
>  
>
> FreeSWITCHers,
>
>         Many commercial companies are very secretive that they use
> FreeSWITCH in their infrastructure,  What can we do as a community to
> welcome larger commercial involvement in FreeSWITCH as a community?  I
> would love to broaden our community out reach if possible.
>
>  
>
> What does everyone else think?
>
>  
>
> Also don't forget to follow us on @freeswitch on twitter now!  ;) 
> PRETTY PLEASE!!!!!
>
>  
>
> --
>
> Brian West
>
>
<snip>



Sean,
I must first say that I am not a FreeSwitch expert by any measure. 
While a lot of what you say might sense from a build it and they will
come stand point, I feel that if you are going to offer a solution as
part of your business you had better know that solution inside and out
and what better way to learn than to start from ./configure && make &&
make install.  This way you can find any "gotchas" first hand, know how
to fix them, and move on to the next possible issue, many of which only
come about in those one off situations.  I started my IT career about 15
years ago in my late 30's as a Windows systems admin(and quickly moved
to *nix).  I soon found that there were a lot of Windows admins that
were really good at point and click installs but when something went
wrong they were on the phone to MS support and paying mega dollars.  In
my opinion, and I may well be wrong, this was due to their never having
had to learn the inner working of the software they were trying to
support. My typical "modus operandi"  is to shy away from any GUI or
binary install until I can successfully build and run from scratch.
Just my 2 cents (and it may not even be worth that)
JohnM
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.freeswitch.org/pipermail/freeswitch-users/attachments/20131210/e5e270db/attachment-0001.html